Mouth gag



Jan. 24, 1961 c. P. MEEK ETAL MOUTH GAG Filed Nov. 25, 1958 Y www L M @mi .m m a T l W A 1 MMU E .wa

Y B W r Iv I. L M 7 lmilH-llllf A 4 53 4 United States Patent f MOUTH GAG `Cicero Parker Meek, 105 Jackson Drive, Aiken, S.C., and S. P. Wall, Jr., Aiken, S.C. (Rte. 1, Box 315, Travelers Rest, S.C.)

Filed Nov. 25, 1958, Ser. No. 776,306

7 Claims. (Cl. 12S-12) n the length of leg`3. The chin rest 15 is of a configura-v tion which will comfortably and iirmly receive the pros pective patients chin, and it will therefore be seen.

to accommodate the particular patient being operatedupon, the adjustments being readily performed and se curing means being provided to lock the various parts= Another object is to provide a mouth Vgag which is rigid when assembled but which can be readily taken apart for cleaning and sterilization purposes.

Another object is to provide a mouth gag having means associated therewith for positioning a light directly below the roof of a patients mouth so that an operation may be performed in the mouth or throat without relying on lights positioned outside the mouth or held by hand.

St-ill another object is to provide a mouth gag which is sturdily constructed and durable in use.

Another object is to provide amouth gag which incorporates a handle member to facilitate accurate positioning of the patients face.`

Another object is to provide a mouth gag which is relatively simple in construction and economical to manufacture. Y

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily seen from the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the mouth gag incorporating the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partially fnagmentary sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig, 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l; f t

Fig; 5 is an enlarged sectional view'taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a generally yoke-shaped frame including a vertical tubular leg 3 having two arms 5 secured adjacent its upper end on opposite sides thereof, as by welding, soldering or the like. The arms 5 may be y* formed of any suitable rigid metal and have lower por- Q tions 6 projecting substantially radially from leg Sin di- '2 and 3.

l rest 15.

2,969,059 Patented Jan. 24, 1961 rections approximately 135 apart. Arms 5 are bent upwardly to provide vertical portions 7 which lie in a plane somewhat offset from the transverse vertical plane of tubular leg 3, as shown best in Fig. 2. The vertical portions 7 are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than would be necessary to span the widest opening of a prospective patients mouth.

A lower tooth-engaging member 9 has a depending flange 11 secured by any suitable means, such as soldering 13, to the inner face of leg 3. Member 9 hasa concave undersurface adapted to be positioned over the lower front teeth of the patient and act as a bearing surface when the jaws are spread apart.

A chin rest 15 is provided with an aperture 17 andv a depending cylindrical collar member 19, and is tele-v scopically mounted on leg 3. The collar 19 may be reinforced or thickened by a second cylindrical member 2,1 xedly secured therearound as by soldering 23. An adjusting screw 25 is threaded throughrmembers 19 and 21 and bears against the surface of leg 3 to hold the chinrest assembly in any desired position of adjustment along that the lower jaw of the patient may be firmly clamped l between Ithe lower tooth-engaging member 9 and the chiny It will be noted that the leg 3 is of sufficient-y l'ength' so thatl a bottom portion 3 thereof may serve Aas a handle.

A shaft 26 is telescopically received in the uppergend of leg 3 and includes a flattened surface 2,7 facing outwardly along the major portion of the lengththereof.,A

An adjusting screw 29 threaded 'thrrou'ghthewall'of leg 3 is adapted to bear against flattened. surface 27 and t0'- hold the shaft 26 in any desired position of Vertical ad-' justment.

A tongue-depressor support 31 is provided and is con-V thereof to define a channel 50. A similar flange 51 is provided on the section 43 to define la second channel 52 in opposed relation to the channel 50. The screws 47 cap 55. The other end of each spring 57 bears againsty the bottom of the respective counterbore 56 serving to urge section 45 against section 43 vand force channels 50 and 52 towards each other.

The tongue depressor element 61 is mounted on the surface 46 of section 45 with its opposite side edges slidingly received in the channels 50 and 52. Due to the action of spring members 57, anges 49 and 51 bear, against the opposite side edges of tongue depressor 61 and tend to color it in adjusted position. The forward end of tongue depressor 61 is preferably shaped to present a generally concave undersurface 63 and may be provided with a plurality of apertures 65. The

opposite end of tongue depres'sor 61 is adapted to serve Section 45 includes a substantially 'hat upperV surface 46 and has a ange member 49 projecting up-V wardly and turned inwardly 'along the free side edge.

as a handle and may be curved downwardly to some extent as shown.

A plurality of notches 71 are provided on the outer face of the vertical arm portions 7 and each arm portion is provided with a sliding collar member 73. A cheek spreader 75 is associated with each collar 73 being supported at the outer end of a stem 77. The stems are received in apertures 79 in the collar members and pass through notches 71 in the outer faces of the respective arms 5. An adjusting screw 81 is threaded through each collar member 73 to bear against the respective stem 7"?. As shown in Fig. 4, when the collars 73 are correctly positioned on the arms 5, the stems are inserted in apertures 79 and through the desired notches 71. Tightening of the adjusting screws 8,1 presses the stems 77 tightly against the bottoms of notches 71. The cheek-spreading elements 75 are generally hook-shaped and provide concave outwardly facing surfaces adapted to hook under the patients cheeks at the corners of the mouth.

An upper tooth-engaging member 85 depends from the middle of a. strut 87 which is connected at either end thereof to support members 89. The members 89 in turn have vertical bores 90 adapted to be received over the upper ends of arms 5. A ratchet device 91 is provided on each support 89 to hold it in the desired position of vertical adjustment, and each ratchet device 91 includes a lever 93 pivotally mounted on a pin 95 between opposed anges 97 projecting outwardly from the respective support 89. The upper portion of 'lever 93 is urged by a spring 101 away from support 89, thus pivoting an inwardly directed finger 99 (Fig. 5) at the lower end of the lever toward arm `for engagement in one of the notches 71 therein. The upper tooth-engaging member 85 corresponds generally to the lower tooth-engaging member 9 and is adapted to pass under and bear against the upper front teeth of the prospective patient.

Thus, when the lower jaw of the patient has been firmly clamped as previously described, the support members S9 are moved upwardly so that the upper toothengaging member 85 engages the patients upper teeth and spreads the mouth open. The cheek-spreading `merribers 75 serve to spread the mouth open along the horizontal direction and the tongue depressor 61 is adjusted to hold the patients tongue.

A light 104, powered by any suitable source (not shown) is adapted to bev positioned near the roof of the patients mouth. The light 104 comprises a bulb` 105 mounted in a socket member 106 supported `at. the ends of arms 107. Arms 107 curve downwardly under the strut S7 at either side of member 85 and are connected to a vertical plate 109 adapted to lie along the outer face of strut 87. Plate 109 has its opposite side edges firmly clamped between opposed channel-shaped faces of support blocks 111 and 113. Support block 111 may be rigidly secured, as .by soldering 115, to the strut 37. Support block 113 is secured by screws 117 to a block member 119 (Fig. 6) which, in tur-n, is secured by soldering 121 to the strut 87. Screws 117 are inserted through bores 123 and counterbores 124 in the block 113 and have their inner ends threaded into apertures 125 in block 119. The heads 126 of screws 117 are removed from the bottom of counterbores 124 and the block 113 is therefore slidably mounted on the screws 117 between an Aouter position engaging block 119 and an inner position with the vbottom of counterbores 124 engaging screw heads 126. yA spring 127 may be positioned midway between the screws 117 and have its opposite ends received in opposed bores 129 and 131 in the blocks 113 and 119, respectively. Spring 127 serve-s to move the block 113, whereby the plate 109 is tirrnly clamped between blocks 1,11 and V113. Thus, the bulb 105 ,can be moved vertically and heldin the desired posiytion of adjustmentwith the top of socket member 106 directly under the roof of vthe patients mouth.

It will readily be seen that the present invention as described hereinabove is adapted to achieve the objects which have been stated. While only one embodiment is disclosed in the speciiication and drawings, it will be clear that numerous changes may be made in the design, arrangement, and construction of the device, and in the choice of materials employed, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A mouth gag, comprising: a yoke-shaped frame member having a dependingv leg with two upstanding arms secured adjacent the upper end thereof, said leg being adapted to serve asa handle; a first tooth-engaging member and a chin-engaging member mounted on said leg and projecting generally horizontally from one face thereof with said tooth-engaging member in vertically spaced overlying relation with respect to said chin-engaging member, said first tooth-engaging member and said chin-engaging member having downwardly facing and upwardly facing bearing surfaces, respectively, said upwardly facing bearing surface lying in a substantially horizontal plane and having an enlarged area of sulicient size to underlie a major portion of a users chin, at least one of said members being mounted for guided vertical movement with respect to the other; means for locking said one member against Vertical movement with respect to said other member; and a second tooth-engaging member positioned in spaced relation above said first tooth-engaging member and having an upwardy facing bearing surface; and means for mounting said second tooth-engaging member between said arms for vertical adjustment with respect thereto, whereby saidjchin-engaging member and said first tooth-engaging member may be clamped on a users jaw and locked in clamped position, and said second tooth-engaging member may be adjusted thereafter to spread the users mouth to any desired extent.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said arms are parallel and are each provided with a hook-shaped cheekspreading element mounted thereon for vertical and lateral adjustment.

3. The device of claim l wherein a tongue depressor is mounted between said arms and presents a downwardly directed bearing surface in vertically spaced relation above said rst tooth-engaging member and wherein said leg is tubular and said tongue-depressor member is mounted for sliding movement on a supporting block, said supporting block being secured by a ball-and-socket joint to a shaft which is telescopically received for vertical adjustment in the upper end of said leg.

4. The device of claim 1 including lighting means mounted between said arms and providing a source of light slightly beyond the extremity of said tooth-engaging means.

5. The device of claim 2 wherein said cheek-spreading members are mounted on collar members surrounding said upper arm portions and vertically adjustable with respect thereto, said cheek-spreading members being laterally adjustable with respect to said collar members.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said upper-.toothengaging element is secured between a second pair of collar members mounted for vertical adjustment on said upper arm portions above said first-mentioned collar members, and wherein means are provided for holding said second pair of collar members in adjusted position on said upper arm portions.

7. A mouth gag, comprising: a yoke-shaped frame member having a depending leg with two upstanding arms secured adjacent `the up; er end thereof, said leg having a tubular upper portion; jaw-engaging means mounted on said leg, said leg depending below said jaw-engaging means to provide Va handle; an upper tooth-engagingV member positioned between said arms in vertically ad.- justable spaced relation above said lower jaw-engaging means; cheek-spreading, members extendingv inwardly from each of said arms and having hook-shaped portions at their inner ends providing outwardly facing bearing surfaces; a shaft telescopically received for vertical adjustment within the tubular upper end of said leg; and a tongue depressor mounted for pivotal movement at the 5 upper end of said shaft.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,319,904 Roberts Oct. 28, 1919 1,374,984 Cameron Apr. 19, 1921 2,594,086 Smith Apr. 22, 1952 

